Rolls-Royce has just unveiled the new Bespoke RED Phantom, a special one-off commissioned to benefit (RED)’s fight to end AIDS. The global charity organisation was founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver in 2006, and its movement has seen many other prominent businesses such as Apple introduce the Product Red iPhone range.

The Red Phantom will be officially unveiled at a gala event in Miami on December 4, 2019, and will be exclusively available via Sotheby’s online auction which will run immediately post-launch until December 13, 2019. Proceeds from the auction, after costs, will go to (RED). The winning bidder will get to collaborate with Mickalene Thomas, one of the world’s most respected contemporary artists, to customise the new car.

Now, the car features a bespoke Crystal over Magma Red paint finish, which essentially means particles of crystal were sprayed into the final layers of clear coat to create a “luxurious luminescence.” The paint is comprised of five layers each hand-polished for over five hours.

Inside, the cabin gets a bespoke Brilliant Arctic White leather upholstery with Mugello Red contrast accents, complete with a colourful Mugello Red Shooting Starlight Headliner with 1,600 fibre optic lights. The instrument panel also gets a unique treatment, that being the Red Regatta Sails that’s housed within a single-piece glass fascia.

All wood veneers were carefully selected and hand-painted with six coats of lacquer for the perfect finish. As a finishing touch, the car gets custom tread plates to commemorate the brand’s 115th anniversary.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Americas president and CEO, Martin Fritsches said: “It is an honour and privilege to present this one of a kind commission created at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, England. Every member of our team is deeply inspired by this world-class commission and equally by the importance of the cause that it was created to support – (RED)’s fight to end AIDS. We are proud to partner with Mickalene Thomas, Sotheby’s and RM Sotheby’s to achieve an outstanding result from this auction.”

(RED) CEO, Jennifer Lotito said: “We’re so grateful to Rolls-Royce for donating profits from the Red Phantom to help with the fight to end AIDS. We need all forces mobilised against this pandemic which is the leading cause of death among young women. We also want to thank Mickalene Thomas for her creative genius and support of this auction to help the Global Fund eradicate AIDS.”

Again, all proceeds after costs will be donated to (RED). To date, the organisation has generated over US$600 million (RM2.5 billion) for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to support HIV/AIDS grants in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia. No overhead is taken – 100% of the money goes to ground work. Over 140 million people have been impacted by the movement, which includes prevention, treatment, counselling, HIV testing and care services.

-paultan